


The Boy on the Train

by adorkablephil (kimberly_a)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2009 Dan Howell, 2009 Era (Phandom), M/M, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 20:48:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15494373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimberly_a/pseuds/adorkablephil
Summary: Train to Manchester, 19 October 2009





	The Boy on the Train

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the @phanfichallenge Train Challenge on Tumblr

Suzanne sat, desperately bored, on the train home to Manchester after visiting her grandmother in Southampton. She loved her gran, and she also loved her gran’s ginger scones with golden sultanas. Suzanne patted the tin on her lap, which contained a dozen fresh scones to bring home to her mum and dad. The scones weren’t warm anymore, as they had been when she and Gran had eaten some this morning with butter melting on, but Mum and Dad would still enjoy them. She knew Dad missed his mum’s ginger scones.

None of them saw Gran as often as they’d like, because the four-hour train ride made it something only possible for special occasions. But this had been Gran’s birthday, so Suzanne had made the trip, even though Mum and Dad hadn’t been able to come because of work. It had been a lovely visit, but Suzanne was relieved to be headed home, even if the train ride was tedious and the book she’d brought was boring.

And then—what luck!—a beautiful boy boarded the train at Reading and sat just across from her on the other side of the aisle, where she could see him quite clearly if she but turned her head. He had straight brown hair in a style favored by the “emo” crowd at her college, and his frame was quite slim despite his height, as if he had grown tall so quickly that his body hadn’t had time to catch up. He wasn’t exactly skinny, though—just slender.

He really was quite lovely, she thought as she eyed his profile.

He sat beside the window, just as she had, so there were two seats and an aisle between them, but Suzanne didn’t consider that any significant impediment to a friendly flirtation that might help pass the time. She didn’t know how far he’d be traveling, but perhaps it would be far enough for them to get to know each other a bit.

She smiled at him, but he didn’t seem to notice.

He put earbuds into his ears and held a messenger bag in his lap, his fingers tapping against the canvas with nervous energy. He stared out the window, occasionally biting his lip or bringing a hand to his mouth to nibble a fingernail. Several times, he ran his hand through his hair and adjusted his fringe.

When he looked away from the window to glance around the carriage, Suzanne smiled at him again. This time he noticed her and gave a slight smile in response before glancing down at his phone. He fidgeted with one of his earbuds and tapped at his phone, probably listening to one of those bands like My Chemical Romance or Panic! at the Disco. What kind of band had an exclamation point in the middle of the name? She thought it was stupid, personally. But, then, she didn’t listen to that sort of music. She listened to a lot of Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift. Occasionally some Miley Cyrus when she felt like branching out. She was all about girl power.

Which wasn’t to say that she would object to maybe kissing that boy on the train. There was no one else in the carriage to see them, so it wasn’t out of the question. That was girl power, right? Kissing boys on trains when you wanted to?

And she wanted to.

But he seemed so preoccupied! He’d barely given her a glance! And she knew she looked cute today. Even though she’d known she would be on the train for hours, she’d still worn her favorite blouse and a skirt that showed enough thigh that Gran’s lips had thinned with disapproval. Suzanne had simply shrugged and smiled. She wanted to be dressed for all the possibilities of train travel.

She’d always fantasized about meeting a cute boy on the train. It obviously wasn’t going to happen when she traveled with her parents, but here she was—traveling alone, ready for adventure—with a boy who seemed completely oblivious to her cute blouse and short skirt.

Suzanne pouted and looked out her own window.

The English countryside was desperately boring. She looked back at the boy across the aisle. He was looking down at his phone and smiling. He had a lovely smile, with a dimple that made her want to kiss it.

The boys at college fell over themselves trying to get her attention, so what was wrong with this boy on the train? He’d obviously seen her, since he’d returned her smile earlier, but he hadn’t even glanced back in her direction since then.

He looked out his window again, a smile still lingering on his lips. She thought about those lips crushing against hers as the beautiful emo boy tried to get a hand up her skirt. “Oh no!” she would exclaim. “You can’t do that!” But then she’d let him do it anyway, and his hand would slide up her bare thigh…

Suzanne blinked her eyes and saw that the boy was leaning toward her, looking concerned. He’d removed one of his earbuds. “Are you all right?” he asked her, sounding very proper. An articulate emo, then.

“Yes, of course,” she replied with her most winning smile.

He frowned slightly, “You just seemed to be … I don’t know. I’m sorry I bothered you.” He smiled again, and she saw that he had dimples on both sides, not just the one, and she melted like butter on one of Gran’s warm scones.

But then he was leaning back into his seat, fiddling with the strap of his bag, biting his lip, looking out the window, and nibbling at his fingernails. At one point, he messed with his hair, adjusted his fringe again, and held up his camera as if to take a selfie. The boy simply could not sit still like a polite person should in public.

Perhaps there was something wrong with him.

That might explain why he wasn’t interested in Suzanne.

After two hours of subtle attempts to get the boy’s attention, punctuated by occasional fantasies about what they might do if and when he did notice how attractive she was and decide to do something about it while they were trapped together in this tiny railway carriage, Suzanne found her hopes dashed when a family of four boarded and sat only a few rows away. Well, the boy certainly wouldn’t kiss her  _now_ , let alone slide his hand up her skirt!

Suzanne pouted and stared out her own window again. Countryside: still boring. If only she’d brought a more interesting book with her, then perhaps she could keep her mind off the beautiful emo boy with the dimpled smile who kept nervously playing with his ridiculous fringe.

Well, what a wasted opportunity, Suzanne thought crossly as they neared Manchester Piccadilly. Her parents would meet her at the station, and all chance of a liaison with the handsome stranger would be lost.

She pouted harder. It just wasn’t fair.

To her surprise and momentary pleasure, she saw that the boy was also picking up his things to leave the train at Manchester. If only her parents hadn’t been there to meet her! She might have struck up a conversation on the platform!

As the boy stepped off the train ahead of her—rude! surely he should have let a girl go first!—she saw another boy rush forward to greet him. Perhaps it was his brother, she thought, as they were both so tall and slim, with such similar straight hair, such similar fringes.

Suzanne stepped off the train, not bothering to look for her parents but instead choosing a few last looks at the beautiful boy with whom she’d had so many imagined moments of pleasure on the train ride. But as she walked past him, she saw his face as he looked at the other boy, and … oh.

No wonder he hadn’t been looking at her during those three hours.

His face absolutely glowed as he gazed into the eyes of this other boy, and the other boy with the slightly darker hair looked just as enchanted. And then they hugged, and Suzanne looked away.

Hrmph.

Nobody had ever looked at her that way, not even the boys at college. They might want to slip their hands up her skirt, but they didn’t glow like that when they looked at her, as if they were lit from within by some spark of magic.

That’s what she’d seen on the dimpled boy’s face as she walked past. Magic.

So apparently he was gay. Pity.

Her parents found her and took her bags. They asked about Gran, and Suzanne most likely gave appropriate answers, but really she couldn’t take her mind off those boys’ faces as they’d looked at each other. That’s what she wanted. Not stolen kisses on the train with a stranger. Not a hand sneaking up her skirt when no one could see. She wanted what those boys had, and she hoped someday she’d find it.

Magic.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to stop by and say hi on Tumblr, where I'm @adorkablephil.


End file.
